Under the Republican health care bill now being considered in the U.s. Senate, the number of uninsured would jump from 28 million to 49 million (Annals of Internal Medicine, June 27, 2017). About 28 million Americans now do not have health insurance.

More and more health policy leaders are advocating for a single payer national health insurance program that would cover every American. There are now studies (reported in the above mentioned Annals article) that show that lack of heath insurance correlates with poor health and increases mortality. Health care should be the right of all Americans, not just a privilege for those who can afford it.